Van Dyke Parks Interview, 2012
The below is a transcript from my interview with Van Dyke Parks, a music legend. The interview was for the Australian events site Everguide, which no longer exists.
Hannah Joyner: Hello?
Van Dyke Parks: Hello? It’s so hard to hear you, dear.
HJ: I’m sorry, I’ll shuffle closer to the phone…is that better?
VDP: Much better, how are you?
HJ: I’m great, how are you, where are you right now?
VDP: I’m at my home in Los Angeles but in a day I am going to Tokyo and then I’ll be heading back here. Nobody wants me very long. I must always be fleeing the law.
HJ: (Laughs) Wait…really?
VDP: No I’m just kidding around. Now, you are in Melbourne I understand?
HJ: Yes.
VDP: Yes, I love that town.
HJ: Oh, you’ve visited before?
VDP: Yes, and I love that town for everything that it represents. You know, in the ghosts of empire. In the architecture and just the general vibe of the town. It’s just beautiful.
HJ: Will you be visiting when you’re in the country? I couldn’t find any other gigs apart from the Adelaide Festival.
VDP: No that’s it. A one time only, lifetime, experience. Though I certainly intend to keep coming back to Australia. I love the people and the attitude.
HJ: Thank you. Now we should start talking about you and your music. You are an arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Which one came first?
VDP: Well, musician. Music came first, everything is music for me, it always has been. Generally, I’ve enjoyed a great deal of anonymity in working as an arranger and I prefer that. It’s a wonderful opportunity and just leads to so many things. Recently, actually, it leads to this concert. I have worked on some orchestrations with Daniel Johns before and so I’m coming back to have a reunion with him. It’s going to be a wonderful time.
HJ: How did you first meet Daniel Johns, were you aware of him back in his early days with Silverchair?
VDP: Oh yes. Well, I was raising a family and whatever I wouldn’t catch, my children would clue me in on. Silverchair was an absolute part of their diet.
HJ: Did you like other grunge music?
VDP: Yes. The thing is, I’m all ears. I enjoy very much, all kinds of twists and turns in music, even that which I don’t understand. I’m a die-hard genre hopper. I love all kinds of music, as long as it’s well constructed and has an attitude, a decent attitude. This has taken me to many places that I never would have gone musically. I listen a lot and learn, I’m always learning.
HJ: Do you listen to the recent genres like dubstep and house and to electronic artists like Grimes and others?
VDP: I listen to it all, I’ll tell you, there’s this artist named Skrillex. Have you heard of him?
HJ: Of course.
VDP: I did a huge arrangement for him with an orchestra. I don’t naturally listen to artists like him, but he called me up and wanted me to frame one of his works with an orchestra. To tell you the truth, I had no idea what I was doing. I just plunged into space; this guy is from a different world. In fact, by doing it, I keep re-inventing what it is I am doing as an arranger. I have never had a more exciting experience in a recording studio. Electronica plays a part in it, I like to bring worlds together. Acoustic instruments, orchestras and the heat of the street. I’m very much interested in roots music, I like to find out what is on the street and try and frame it for people who would never be aware of what is happening. To me [the Adelaide Festival show] is an opportunity to cross generations and mix things up a bit.
HJ: What do you think of the direction that pop music has headed?
VDP: As far as I am concerned. I am 70 years old. A lot of people my age want to stay where they came in. I really like the unfamiliarity of music, that’s what takes the rust off my hinges. So I’m fine with where pop music is. Worldbeat is really my passion. African music, South American, particularly the Portuguese styles, I love it all. As long as it’s done in a way that I can hear it speaks from the heart, it’s got me. Even though the music business has imploded, music is in a better place than it ever was, certainly since the ’50s and the ‘60s.
HJ: What makes you say that?
VDP: Well, more different kinds of music have the opportunity to thrive. It’s not so controlled by one kind of idiom. Musicians today have more imagination than they ever did, they’re doing more inventive things with the song form, which is what I love. There’s nothing more important than the song form, it’s what changes hearts and minds, changes politics and what I come to Australia to celebrate.
HJ: Do you think longevity is important? You’re well known for working with The Beach Boys, but do you think a band has to be as long-standing as them to be considered great artists?
VDP: Job one to me is to make music that is durable and shows me as I am. It has to be as durable as denim and made outside of whatever music is all the rage at the present moment and exist in another realm of its own. So nothing that sounds like a Charleston, or a Twist, those are just dead dance forms. Music needs to exist out of its time. People should be able to go back and listen to it, always with a sense of discovery. So guilty as charged [longevity] is very important to me.
HJ: Is there any modern artists who you think people will listen to for the next decades?
VDP: I like to think there will be. You know what they say, the cream always rises to the top. A light goes on when you listen to certain music, I think there is plenty of music that reflects that. [The United States] just elected a President that certainly reflects that street sensibility about music, he’s into all kinds of new music. That to me is very inspiring, and I think people should be more open to all kinds of musical lingo so they can discover the hearts that speak other languages. What I like about it is that I can always get music, even if it’s in other languages. You don’t have to know what the artist is thinking if you can tell hear in the music how they are feeling. I know it sounds very naïve but I take music as a religion, it’s what I do with every day of my life. Talking about it reminds of a fellow I once worked for, Frank Zappa, he had a group called The Mothers of Invention. Frank said ‘Talking about music, is like dancing about Architecture.’
HJ: Oh, he’s the one who said that!
VDP: Yes, so as you can probably hear, I find it very hard to talk about that which most matters to me.
HJ: You’re doing fine, but I understand the feeling. Moving on, I noticed with your past albums, they were always very well received critically, in reviews and such. Do you think the music-buying public needs to have the same ear for music as you do? I say that only because your albums never followed any musical trends in their time.
VDP: I don’t think you can do anything in life that is worth spit, which comes out of any concern for what others think, or any commercial intent. I’ve always been true to myself, and I’ve made mistakes. I’ve always thought that you never achieve anything without reserving the right to fail. So I never put any great concern into being a ‘celebrity’ or had any of the well-known ‘hits,’ as it were. I’m amazed that fifty years late, I’m still embracing songs and I’m still able to perform them and feel that they are durable. I’m content is all I can tell you, Hannah with an ‘H,’ I’m content.
HJ: (Giggles) Well speaking of performing, what can those who attend your Adelaide Festival show expect.
VDP: Well actually, and I was very grateful for the interruption, I was just working on the orchestrations for it. What I’ve done for many years and for many people, is served as an arranger, so this will show with a spectacular effort on my part as far as I’m concerned, an evening of romantic escapism. I think it will be a night to remember. Certainly, I am very grateful for the Adelaide Arts Orchestra, because they are a fine orchestra. So the show is going to be nothing but ear candy for the audience.
HJ: Is an orchestra your favourite platform to work with, do you need lots of different instruments?
VDP: Yes, though I’m just interested in music. Music is where the word ends. When we’re out of words we can turn to music. It does so much that words can’t. When you can share a musical experience in a room, there’s nothing that beats it. The crowning achievement for me will be hearing Daniel Johns getting some recognition in a room for his work with Silverchair. It’s the first time many of those arrangements will be heard and I’m very grateful to him for letting me be able to hear that. You know, Kimbra told me the other day on the phone that when she was a teenager, she would sit in her bedroom and listen to Silverchair’s album Diorama(which Parks helped arrange), and she said it just changed her life. So I’m very grateful to be on stage with Daniel and Kimbra. I know most of the audience won't have heard of me, that’s fine, because they will hear from me that night.
HJ: Well that’s why we’re talking. I’m now aware of you and I’ll keep listening to your music, I’m sure others will do the same.
VDP: Well, I’m looking forward. The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. There’s a lot to look at and a lot to pursue. The music is certainly worth suffering the indignity of air travel and taking off my belt and shoes. I’m coming because my heart is in the work.
